What keeps you up at night?
After finishing an 8-5 job, all you want to do is go home, take a nice warm bath, light some scented candles, get yourself all moisturized, wear your most comfortable sleeping wear, and finally close your eyes to enjoy a deep sleep after a tiresome day. Sounds peaceful right? Not until your thoughts work on the graveyard shift and there you are wide awake, staring at nothing with your mind running on a treadmill.
Having late night thoughts and be overdramatic even to the silliest thing is a trend nobody wants, but everybody has. No matter how much force you summon for it not to visit you, your mind is just stubborn sometimes. You can pretend to close your eyes and imagine laying in the grass with the sun kissing your cheek and the cool breeze caressing your hair, but no, all you think about are arguments you have with yourself that never actually existed, made-up scenarios, embarrassing moments you have even those from 10 years ago, and probably trying to set up how your date will got to be when you don’t even have a boyfriend!
Late night thoughts are normal, but it depends on what kind of thoughts you have. However, if your thoughts fall to the dark category, you might need to evaluate it and act. Sometimes our mind wanders too far from the reality, we tend to overthink and question our existence. If this has happened to you it is called existential crisis. We tend to worry what will we become, what will we accomplish, or is there even a future waiting for us? Overthinking at night makes life bleak and devoid of hope. Clinical studies also show that staying up too late triggers anxiety and depression.
We surely don’t want that to happen. Here’s a few things we can do to wind up the raging storms in our head.
1. Practice Good Sleep Hygiene
Set up a sleeping schedule and make a habit of following this routine. Don’t stay up past your bedtime to prepare yourself for a long undisturbed sleep. Do this consistently to adjust your body clock.
2. Avoid Heavy Meals
Avoid eating heavy meals close to bedtime. We always like to reward ourselves with a sumptuous dinner after a long day plus midnight snacks. As mouthwatering as it seems, this triggers insomnia and might cause indigestion.
3. Set time to wind down
If you suffer from sleep anxiety, it is best to create a routine that will help wind down your thoughts and gets you in the mood for sleep. You can try from having a warm bath, dimming the lights, setting up your room temperature, and listen to soothing music that encourages relaxation and deep sleep.
4. Write down your thoughts
Expressive writing about your deepest fears, worries, and affirmations are an effective way to reduce the size of the negative brain wave signal. It allows our brain to offload mental resources and have a breather.
5. Ask for Professional help
If you have recurring negative thoughts at night that affects your productivity and inner peace, take a bold move to seek help. Results will allow you to know how to manage your thoughts and overcome them to be mentally healthy.
Your mind is powerful, don’t let it drown you. Help yourself for you deserve a good sleep.